Vegan Sashimi at Yasaitei (2010/06/30)

Service: Excellent and very friendly
Facilities: very clean
Prices: reasonable
Specialty: Vegan and vegetarian Cuisine, Izakaya gastronomy, local products, oden.

The summer has come to Shizuoka with a vengeance after an unseasonably cool period. One has problems making and devising food and meals for such a period. It is when you have to think of a higher fluid/water and vitamin intake to complement your “usual” diet/eating prctices.

This is when fresh vegetables are vital!
Luckily enough, Shizuoka Prefecture is the most blessed region in Japan when it comes to varieties and quality.

Just go arond the innumerable small markets in town and suburbs and you will rediscover the riot of colours at Yasaitei, which almost exclusively serve local produce!

Do not forget that mushrooms can play a vital role in your diet!

One knows very quickly where all these beauties come from: Green asparaguses from Hokkaido!

I had a long day both indoors and outdoors yesterday, and I was literally dehydrated when I entered my favourite izakaya.
The fresh colours of yuba/tofu sheets served with grated Shizuoka wasabi and thinly shredded leek were a balm on my eyes and body.
With a glass of Doman rice shochu from Tenjigura-Hamamatsu Brewery, I could patiently wait for my vegetable sashimi order!

Just a little soy sauce with it, nothing else!

A side view of the picture at the top of this posting.

A slanted view to show the mizu nasu/water egg plant, a Japanese variety that is best eaten raw, cruchy celery, crunchy (and so juicy) daikon on shiso, perilla leaf atop chopped onions, crunchy and juicy (again) cucumber and small radish!
The dressing/dip consisted as usual of fine salt, miso paste and sesame oil!

I finish my quick snack/meal with a corn cream and fresh carrot combination. Does not qualify as vegan, but certainly does as vegetarian!

YASAITEI
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Tokiwa-Cho, 1-6-2 Green Heights Wamon 1-C
Tel.: 054-2543277
Business hours: 17:30~22:00
Closed on Sundays
Reservations highly recommended
Seating: 6 at counter + 20 at tables
Set Courses: 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 yen
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat

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Vegan Japanese Dessert: Yomogi Kintsuba/”Mugwort Sabre Guard”

I visited JA (Japan Agriculture) Agriroad Supermarket in Miwa, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City this morning. Good exercise, as it is a 40-minute bicycle ride from my home up along the Abe River!

I had the pleasure to meet an old acquaintance, Mrs. Natsuko Koyanagi who works there on Wednesdays.
Actually she is one of the 15 out of a total of over 100 members of Agri Road working in shifts at the JA Agriroad Supermarket. All members are local farmer housewives who decided to form this association with subsidies from the Japan Agriculture Ministry as a “side business” to contribute to their husbands’ earnings. They grow their own food, flowers and cook take-away meals all sold at that supermarket. There are quite a few more in this city, all with a different name, but sharing the same purpose.

her specialty is making “Yomogi kin Tsuba” every Wednesday morning.
And I can tell you these do not stay long as they are freshly made in fornt of the customers who very often make personal orders through the phone early in the morning when she is prparing the batter and the sweetmeats!

Yomogi is mugwort.
Not to be confused with tujone, which was used to make the “Green Fairy”, aka Absinthe, which is now prohibited in its origanl form.
Mugwort grows almost everywhere in Japan and has been used as food and medicinal herb since immemrial times.
It is particularly rich in palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, Vitamin A, B1 and B2!
It is particularly popular as tempura and cakes.
It is first crushed and worked into a paste before being mixed with water and flour.
Now, Mrs. Koyanagi uses only “Chikona wheat flour”, that is flour from wheat only grown and ground locally ensuring for the best quality and back tracing.
Moreover, she makes her own anko/sweetmeats with strictly locally-grown azuki beans and sugar.
Nothing else! I can assure you that vegans couls feed on them all day!LOL

Now, why the name “kintsuba”?
Kintsuba means sword guard. It has three openings, the middle one for the blade, the other two for the pins to secure the same blade and guard together.

As explained above, Mrs. Koyanagi prepares her own batter to a sticky paste, solid enough to be able to wrap it around a ball of anko.
She will then drop the cake on a hot plate (coated with a little oil) and press it with her three middle fingers so as to attain the shape of a sword guard!
Important note: Mrs. Koyanagai wears medical gloves during the whole operation.
Actually, one more reason she makes these cakes is because she receives the visit of many Nepalese through her charity work abroad. As her Asian friends are most of the time strict vegetarians, it becomes a double pleasure for her to feed them!

Incidentally, yomogi kintsuba was a very popular cake with the samurais of old times!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat

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Robert Yellin’s Book – Ode to Japanese Pottery

Book Details:

Title: Ode to Japanese Pottery, Sake Cups and Flasks
Author: Robert Lee Yellin
Hardcover: 208 pages
Dimensions: 22.7 x 18.2 x 2 cm
Photos: All color photography, 62 pages
Photography: Yoshihide Minato and Hiroya Yoshimori
Language: English
Publisher: Coherence Inc.
ISBN: 4-907731-05-1
Price: US $49.50 (cheaper if ordered directly from HOMEPAGE: ROBERT YELLIN YAKIMONO GALLERY)

Highlights:

Sake cups and flasks by approximately 100 modern and contemporary potters. Main text by Robert Yellin, with additional text by Wahei Aoyama entitled “A Brief History of Sake Vessels.” Book includes a detailed glossary of terms, and hand-painted calligraphy and artwork by various artists. This book is the English version of Yakimono Sanka by Robert Yellin, first published in Japanese in 1995 by Kogei Shuppan. Yakimono Sanka was recommended by the Japanese Library Association for inclusion into all Japanese public libraries.

Review:

In the world of Japanese pottery lie the aesthetic sensibilities of traditional Japanese culture. Robert L. Yellin, ceramic art columnist for The Japan Times, delivers in this detailed volume his insights into modern and contemporary Japanese pottery, in particular ceramic sake cups and flasks.

Originally written in 1995 for a Japanese audience, Ode to Japanese Pottery is an ideal introduction to those unacquainted to Japanese pottery, and a welcome asset to the libraries of Japanese ceramic art collectors and connoisseurs. The volume exhibits various styles of Japanese pottery, namely Bizen, Shigaraki, and Shino wares. Above all, Ode to Japanese Pottery gives the reader a grasp of the unique and delicate aesthetics of Japan, an aesthetic that has long captivated artists and art lovers the world over.

Inquiries:

To inquire about this publication, please click here.

Page Samples:

Excerpt from “Ode to Japanese Pottery,” page 40

Isezaki Yozan — Tokkuri of Eternity Isezaki Yozan (1902 – 1961) was a Bizen potter renowned for his sculptured pieces. He was designated an Okayama Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property in 1954. I have only come across one of his pieces on all my journeys (his pieces are quite rare). However, it is this tokkuri that I feel most closely gives me a glimpse of things eternal or ‘mugen’ in Japanese. This tokkuri is so simple in its appearance that it is almost deceiving; yet within its form are colors and a depth that refreshes the spirit. It is a piece that takes time to appreciate, like a good piece of music or a cherished friend. It is only with frequent contact and after a period of time that we can begin to comprehend the wisdom inherent within. This piece was fired with a cup or bowl over its neck (kabuse-yaki), which gives the effect of a ring around the shoulder.

Yakimono Gallery
3-2-18 Omiya-cho, Mishima-shi, Shizuoka, Japan,411-0035
HOMEPAGE: ROBERT YELLIN YAKIMONO GALLERY
BLOG
Google Map

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French Cuisine: Lunch at Tetsuya Sugimoto (new formula)

Service: personal and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Very fresh local ingredients extensively used. Seasonal ingredients of the best quality only.
no-smoking-logoentirely non-smoking!

Since the beginning of June, Tetsuya Sugimoto has re-started with the formula he had so much success with in his former restaurant: a one-man (solo) show!
Tell the truth, he was more or less forced to do it, but he admits that he is quite happy as things are now. After all, his clients are slow food fans in the broadest sense!

On the blackboard outside the prices have been done without. Only the new arrivals of the day are featured: Vegetables from Mr. Yano (Hamamatsu City), Bio Farm Satsuki (Fujinomiya City), Mikatahara Kaneko (Hamamatsu City), Suzuki Noen (Hamamatsu City), Milk Lamb from Iida Bokujyo (Hamamatsu City),….

The Menu has also dispensed with set menus and the like,
Actually, the best way to order your repast is to consult Mr. Sugimoto and either give him a budget to work with, or ask him to arrange this and that. The guests and the chef devise the meal together, a rarity in Japan!

As for the seating the 7 tables seating two each can be arranged in any pattern thanks to white partitions ensuring privacy if needed. The latter can be taken out quickly in case of a party.

5 can sit at the counter, my favourite place when coming alone.
It allows me to stand up any time and chat with the chef while he is cooking!

Although Mr. Sugimoto is a bit shy, he will gladly let you take pictures if you ask nicely!

Here are the vegetables we had agreed on to go with the meat.
All are from Shizuoka Prefecture, except the dark carrots from Hokkaido.

The meat was shoulder from a 3-month old lamb.

The appetizer was fish rillettes prepared with Cognac, Pernod, Fresh cream and white miso!

The second appetizer was white asparaguses from Hokkaido.

Boiled to perfection and served with a light sauce made with pheasant bouillon and Japanese fermented butter.

Be it daytime or night time, a couple of glasses of wine are always in order!

Les Airs, Cotes du Rhone red 2007, unfiltered by Les Vignerons d’Estezargues, 14.5 degrees proof of alcohol. Very solid, fruity, rustic wine with big notes of red fruit and cassis in aroma,soft on the palate in spite of its obvious strength, welcome acidity, lingers long enough to be fully appreciated. Well-chosen, if not famous, wine!

Now, for the main dish!

The lamb was cooked rare, barel seasoned and served with Madeira sauce.

The vegetables were slightly boiled before being fried or deep-fried to preserve their crunchiness and flavors.
Eating them one at a time is a true gastronomic experience even for an omnivore.

Desserts are a must at Tetsuya Sugimoto!
Light and full of flavours, they will actually benifit your health!
Creme d’ange made with Hokkaido Fromage Blanc (Hokkaido No Kyodo Gakusha) with vincoto sauce and rhubarb puree and Hon Yama Seicha Mousse made with green tea from Shizuoka!

Great coffee and amuse-bouches to top it all!

Had it not been lunch, I would have ordered a digestif or a glass of Shizuoka Sake that the chef always keeps handy!

Tetsuya SUGIMOTO
420-0038 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, Umeya, 2-13, 1F
Tel./Fax: 054-251-3051
Opening hours: 11:30~13:30 (last orders), 18:00~21:00 (last prders)
Day off: varying, please phone beforehand.
Reservations strongly recommended.
Vegetarian or vegan meals on request.
Private parties possible.
Credit Cards OK

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope

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Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’10/48): Sushi Millefeuille Bento

I finally managed to have the Missus take all photos of her bentos according to my preferences and hope that BG will stop commenting on my general clumsiness and ignorance!LOL
It takes time even for dragons like me to tame btter-worse halves calling themselves rabbits (BG, spare me from the next question!)

As Tuesday is “Sushi bento day”, the Missus came up with the concept of sushi millefeuille, that is a multi-layer sushi.
She lined a terrine with cellophane paper before placing the ingredients in the following order (inverted!): sliced avocado dipped in lemon juice, sushi rice, cucumber strips, smoked salmon and rice again!

The same unwrapped.
Now, if you do not wish to press the sushi too hard like the Missus, keep it wrapped in the cellophane paper when you cut it to avoid unpleasant (crumbling away) surprises.

And you might have to wrap them again before cutting them a second time across!

Then she wrapped each sushi in lettuce for better handling and easier insertion into the bento box. That particular box is very practical for big bento rice balls or sushi!

For a closer cross section view of the sushi!

Mini tomatoes and the Missus’ mother’s home-made cucumber pickles for the finishing touch!

The Salad dish consisted of mixed boiled beans, hijiki/sweet seaweed, fresh celery, red trevise and lettuce.
No dessert? Oh well, the tomatoes are very sweet!

Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat

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Robert Yellin’s Newsletter: The Power of Myth-Shimura Noriyuki Exhibition

We are pleased to announce the 2nd exhibition of Shimura Noriyuki, a unique ceramic artist who takes folklore and history and places them on his colorful vessels. Shimura has been working since 1990 in the Izu peninsula after having studied and worked for 11 years with Seto potter and glaze master Kato Sho (1927-2001, Aichi Intangible Cultural Property). Kato was also a unique potter making incised works with peacocks, for example. Shimura did much inlay-zogan work over the years for Kato and on his current works he continues to employ this technique, often with writing about the meaning of each piece. Our online exhibition will be viewable until July 7th.

Shimura Noriyuki—The Power of Myth (From a past Honoho Geijutsu column)

It’s often said that good things come in small packages, take a little kogo for example. I just had to smile as I held one in my miraculous hands; staring back at me was a fire breathing Godzilla-like figure. How fun, I said to myself! The whimsical world of kogo goes back many centuries with mythical figures such as shishi lions and robed foxes, seven-lucky gods, birds, and other nature themes as motifs. I’m sure such kogo have brought delight to those who viewed them too over the endless years. In fact, kogo are collected the world over with one famous collection of 3,500 kogo (however no fire breathing dragon ones) created by French statesman George Clemenceau (1841-1929). The Clemenceau collection toured Japan in 1978. That was just thirty years ago and how the world at large has changed, not often for the better though, unfortunately. It’s time to, as Henry David Thoreau said, simplify, or as comedian Steve Martin once joked to, ‘get small!’

These largely unnerving days we surely need new dreams, new ideas and new visions (here big is ok) in all aspects of life to revive our spirits, the economy and the environment. Or maybe we just need to look at ancient myths to remember the value of life. Art too is often an inspiration in such turbulent times, a visual way to connect with our psyches, inner voices and dreams; Shimura Noriyuki–the ceramic artist who created the Godzilla-like kogo–is an inspired artist who in his own quiet way is keeping dreams and myths alive in his ceramic art.

The great author of the book ‘The Power of Myth’ Joseph Campbell used to say ‘follow your bliss.’ To do so means one follows the uncharted path of life taking each thought, each dream, each vision into every single precious day to create what we call ‘a life.’

Shimura has been doing that since 1990 in the Izu peninsula after having studied and worked for 11 years with Seto potter and glaze master Kato Sho (1927-2001, Aichi Intangible Cultural Property). Kato was also a unique potter making incised works with peacocks, for example. Shimura did much inlay-zogan work over the years for Kato and on his current works he continues to employ this technique. Have a look at another kogo, the Buddha, and you’ll see a keen sense of balance in the white zogan design set within the backdrop. And the dragon kogo is a riot of color, yet as with all of Shimura’s works the colors blend together in a rather shibui way. And this is an important aspect of Shimura’s work; how he does blend his colors in a kirei-sabi way, not gaudy at all. That makes Shimura’s works able to sit in a tokonoma and not be out of place. They also will bring a lively commentary and smiles to any tea ceremony. Of course he also makes vessels for the table with equally pleasing themes.

As with kogo, okimono or ornamental figures long ago were a whimsical world of beasts, legendary figures, and demons that brought luck, prosperity, dreams and inspiration to many homes. Where are such okimono now? If a society loses its power of indigenous myth and just buys into globalization its spirit will die off. To keep the power of myth alive maintains the health of a society. Shimura is doing all he can to bring okimono back into the homes of the nation.

His Sumo wrestler has a stern yet gentle face, and the image of Fuji-san on his kesho-mawashi imparts not only energy to the okimono, yet also a spirit, the spirit of Japan. The Fuji-san okimono has a well-balanced grove of multi-colored pines growing up the entire form; a pure Japanese image, and symbolism poetical themed with the word ‘tsuki’ or moon rising from the side inlaid within the moon itself. The back has a rather textile themed striped pattern that also recalls Ogata Kenzan. To have such an okimono, in one’s foyer will surely allow one to leave the house each day with a smile and greet the day empowered with their own bliss, rooted in the timeless power of myth. Thanks to Shimura Noriyuki for reminding me of that.

With deep thanks and appreciation for all your interest and support; my staff and I send our best regards from Japan.

Cordially,
Robert Yellin

Yakimono Gallery
3-2-18 Omiya-cho, Mishima-shi, Shizuoka, Japan,411-0035
HOMEPAGE: ROBERT YELLIN YAKIMONO GALLERY
BLOG
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RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Ideal Party

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Vegan Japanese Yama Imo Salad

Yama Imo is Yam in English.
As said many a time before, it is a very healthy vegetable.
The Japanese often eat it raw in salads or as an appetizer.
Here is a very simple suggestion for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike!
Great with beer or Japanese sake!

INGREDIENTS:

-Yama Imo/Yam: 1/4
-Ooba/Large shiso/perilla leaves (if not available, use perilla leaves): 3~4
-Soy sauce: of your choice and as appropriate. (can be replaced with ponzu)
-Wasabi: grated as appropriate.

RECIPE:

-Peel yama imo.
Cut it in 5~7 cm-long and 1/2cm wide strips/sticks.
If you find cutting it raw diificult, freeze it first, then cut. It will re-attain its original state very quickly.

-On a serving dish, make a bed of leaves.
Place yama imo sticks as shown on pics.

-For the sauce, you can either mix the soy sauce (or ponzu) with the grated wasabi and serve it in small dish for dipping if you use chopsticks.
If you use a fork, pour the sauce over the yam imo.

Note: I use sprinkle the yama imo with plenty of roasted sesame seeds for extra taste and crunch!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat

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French Dessert: Chilled Musk Melon Soup at Pissenlit

Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products.
no-smoking-logoentirely non-smoking!

This is the “third part” of my previous lunch at Pissenlit, dessert!

Musk Melons are a specialty of Fukuroi City, where more than 300 farmers grow them in a great environment, most of the time organic!

This dessert for all its simple concept, was a true dlicacy.
Half of it was soup made with flesh and juice of musk melon, and the other half of musk melon quarters you scoope out with yor spoon with some of the grapefruit sorbet wimming on top!

It certainly deserved a separate posting!

PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
Homepage (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope

Please check the new postings at:
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Italian Cuisine: Appetizers at Acqua Di Fonte (3)

As I said before, I’ve found over the years that in Japan, and especially Shizuoka, that it is more fun to ask for a few appetizers with a couple of glasses of good wine at Italian Restaurants (mind you, the same would apply to Spanish Restaurants and izakayas!) than to go for the full course repeatedly in the same restaurant.
When a good and unpretentious restaurant like Acqua Di Fonte in Shizuoka City agrees to it, it is simply great fun!

Service: Excellent and very friendly
Facilities: very clean all around
Prices: reasonable
Specialty: Central and south Italian-style cuisine. Very reasonables prices. Very reasonably-priced wines.
no-smoking-logo1 Non-smoking at tables and most of the counter!

From left to right: tsubugai/small turbo shells, shako/squilla and Zucchini Flowers Fritto (stuffed with cheese).

Nasu/egg-plants-aubergines, shishito/Japenese peppers, tuna flakes, maitake mushrooms and kabocha/Japanese pumpkin.

Salami in front.

Home-made duck confit in the front.

ACQUA DI FONTE Antica Osteria
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 1-10-10, Pia Takajo, 1F
Tel. & Fax: 054-266-6440
Opening hours: 11:30~14:00, 18:00~22:00
Closed on Wednesdays and first Tuesday
Credit cards OK (Dinner only)

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope

Please check the new postings at:
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Italian Cuisine: Genovese Sauce Trofie Pasta

Service: Excellent and very friendly
Facilities: clean
Prices: reasonable
Specialty: Central and south Italian-style cuisine. Home-made pasta. Very reasonables prices
no-smoking-logo1 Non-smoking!

The owners of Il Castagno having just come back from a 4-week long holiday all over Italy, I thought it was about time to “check” them again!
They make all by pasta by hand and endeavour whenever possible to use local produce.
As I have already introduced this favourite restaurant of mine, I will only introduce either antipasri, pasta or single dishes like I do for other restaurant.

This particularly delicious pasta consists of Trofie, or thin twisted pasta, which have to be rolled one by one btween the palms of the hands.

The Genovese sauce was made with basil, cress, wanuts and almonds (the latter two roasted whole and ground into powder.
It was added with zucchini, string beans, small pieces of potatoes, seasoning and Parmegiano.

A large shrimp was placed on top for more taste and colour contrast.

Delicious!

IL CASTAGNO
420-0843 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, Tomoe Cho, 48 (along Kitakaido Street)
Tel. & Fax: 054-247-0709
Business hours: 11:45~14:00, 17:30~21:00
Closed on Mondays and second Tuesdays
Lunch: 1,260 and 1,860 yen
Dinner: 4,000 and 5,000 yen
A la Carte menu and wine list available. Wine by the glass ok
Reservations recommended.
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’10/47): Irish Bento?

The Missus Pic!

My pic….

Shizuoka Prefecture produces more than 45% of all green tea in Japan, and you are bound to find some interesting derivated products here.
Last wek I brought a small bag of rice which had been polished and coated with matcha! No need to wash it, just steam it right away!

Accordingly the Missus prepared some “Irish” (you know, the colour green! BG, I can hear you!) musubi/rice balls!

The daikon slices pickled in amazu/sweet rice vinegar made for a beautiful contrast in colours! The Missus is becoming artistic!

The “main dish” was both very seasonal and local as most ingredients were bought at the next door supermarket.

Fried red onion and eringi mushrooms with tuna steak (of the cheaper kind, but perfect for cooking!) fried with wasabi sauce and home-pickled wasabi stems for extra zip.

Boiled/stir-fried string beans and mini carrots are local. The Missus sprinkled them with roasted sesame seeds, a must ingredient.

And American dark cherries for dessert!

I will have to keep this bento out of the reach of the local pixies, brownies, elves, leprechauns and banshees (they have other names in Japanese, but the generic term is 0-bake!) until lunch time!

Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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日本語のブログ
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Food & Drinks Bloggers in Japan (expanded on 2010/06/27)

The number of foreigners and Japanese nationals who write about the food and drinks in Japan in English (or at least answer comments in English) has remarkably increased lately.
I thought it was about time to start some kind of round-up to help people discover these deserving foodies and their blogs!The list below is far from exhaustive, but I’m planning to update and announce it regularly!
Of course if you know more foodies residing in Japan, do please direct them to me and I will introduce them gladly!

HOKKAIDO TRIBE
(Hokkaido Island)
Meishu no Yutaka by Carlin

TOHOKU TRIBE
(Norteastern Japan: Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima)
Slow Food From Japan by Nigel Fodgen in Miyagi Prefecture.

KANTO TRIBE
(Eastern Japan: Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa)
Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass by Melinda Joe in Tokyo
Tokyo Foodcast by Etsuko Nakamura in Tokyo
Sake World by John Gauntner in Tokyo: The inernational Reference for Japanese Sake!
Tokyo Terrace by Rachael in Tokyo
Gaijin Tonic in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture
Nonjatta by Chris Bunting in Tokyo
The Soul Of Japan in Kanagawa Prefecture
Sake, kimono and Tabi In Tokyo
Tokyo Kawai, Etc… in Tokyo
Blue Lotus in Tokyo
The Japanese Food Report by Harris Salat in Tokyo
The Sake Chronicles in Tokyo
Watashi to Tokyo by Mari kanazawa in Tokyo
Japanese Food-Food Lover’s Guide by Yukari Yamamoto in Tokyo
Gaijin Life by a Canadian gentleman in Tokyo
Leo’s Japan Food Blog in Tokyo
Eating Out In Tokyo With Jon

CHUBU TRIBE
(Central Japan: Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Yamanashi, Nagano, Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi)
Good Beer & Country Boys in Aichi Prefecture
Yellin Yakimono Gallery by Robert Yellin in Shizuoka Prefecture
Mangantayon in Shizuoka Prefecture
Shizuoka Gourmet, Shizuoka Sake, Shizuoka Sushi, Shizuoka Shochu in Shizuoka Prefecture
Bryan Baird’s Beer & Brewery in Numazu in Shizuoka Prefecture

KANSAI TRIBE
(Western Japan: Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Kyoto, Wakayama)
Colorfood Daidokoro in Osaka (Englis & French)
Dominique Corby In Osaka (in French, but can answer and read in English)
Nagaijin in Osaka
Kyoto Foodie in Kyoto
Our Adventures in Japan by K and S Minoo in Osaka
Japan Food Addict by Mai in Kyoto

CHUGOKU
(“Central Country”: Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi)
Get Hiroshima Blog in Hiroshima

SHIKOKU
(Shikoku Island: Kagawa, Kochi, Ehime, Tokushima)
Obachan’s Kitchen & Garden Balcony in Kochi Prefecture
Still Clumsy With Chopsticks in Kochi Prfecture (Continuation of Obachan’s Kitchen & Garden Balcony)

KYUSHU
(Kyushu Island: Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Saga, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima)
Not yet!

OKINAWA
(Okinawa Archipelago)
HWN Pake in Okinawa in Chatan, Okinawa

Indecent Tomato?

I’m bound to be for a lot of flak from Bazooka Gourmet with this one! LOL
Rainy Sunday today, and the Missus before going to work asked me to prepare some ratatouille for dinner.
I still needed quite a few ingredients vefore starting cooking and went to the neighbourhood supermarket.

I noticed some locally grown organic tomatoes sold in a small bunches.

They looked and felt pretty ripe (BG, keep quiet!), just perfect for the ratatouille.

When I opened the vynil bag they were wrapped in at home I discovered two “siamese twins” in a very peculiar arrangement.
I just couldn’t help taking pics before “separating” them for cooking!
I don’t really know how to call them; indecent? Sensuous? Pervert?…

I’m sur BG will come with something!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Beef Cheek and Wild Boar by Yasushi Imaizumi

Because of my work and my love for food, whatever gastronomy, I’m blessed with friends in Japan and elsewhere who are always keen to share their experiences.
Yasushi Imaizumi is a very old Japanese friend for whom I also work regularly as a trouble shooter for his fashion clothes company.
As he extensively travels all year round in Japan and abroad, he cooks a lot back home.
A few days ago, he came to my working place with a tupperware full with sauce he had just made.
Only later, I found out that the pasta sauce had been made as a second part of a whole dinner he cooked himself at home.
In the picture above is Beef Cheek stewed in beer as served at the Restaurant in Nao Jima Setonaikai, a restaurant restaurant produced by Stella Maris.
He served his own fried potatoes, and fresh pasta and the meat topped with a julienne of onion, celery and carrot with olive oil.

Now, the sauce for the pasta back (my) home was made with wild boar (70%) stir fried in olive oil with beef (20%) and pancetta (10%).
stir fried [sofuritto] with onion, celery, carrot,, red wine, beef bouillon, Banyuls, basil, nutmeg, tomato, salt and pepper about 2 hours, later seasoned with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Very hearty, delicious and extravagant!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Morimoto Brewery/Sayogoromo Chouki Ikusei Shikomi Junmai

Hidetoshi Morimoto, owner and brewmaster at Morimoto Brewery in Kikugawa City, is at it again! That is, he just will not “follow the lines” and call his brews as others, more traditionally-minded, would…
This sake, which should have been simply called a “Yamahai” finds itself slated as “Chouki Ikusei Shubo Shikomi Junmai, meaning a “junmai which has nurtured for a long time in my sake factory”!
Well, I don’t mind Hidetoshi’s idyosincracies as long as he creates these marvels!

Rice milled down to 60% (koji/fermented rice) and 65% (plain rice)
Alcohol: 15~16 degrees/genshu/no water added
Bottled in May 2010
Contents: 1.8 l

Clarity: very clear
Colour: transparent
Aroma: Fruity, complex, sweetish. Banana, vanilla with memories nuts and coffee beans.
Body: Fluid
Taste: Dry attack backed with some alcohol. Warms up the back of the palate.
Dry pineapple.
Disappears fairly quickly with memories of nuts, macadamia nuts and custard.
Stays very dry with food with more pineapple.
Surprising “gap” between aroma and taste.

Overall: A typical sake from Morimoto Brewery!
Hidetoshi Morimoto cares little about “pleasing people”… His sake, in spite of making use of Shizuoka yeast are “off the norm” in this Prefecture.
A sake for all seasons and all meals, although eminently enjoyable on its own.
Definitely on the “macho side”, uncompromising!


The Japan Blog List

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Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
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Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
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